New York Officials Want To Have Part Of 2026 Olympics In Lake Placid

2026 Olympics to Upstate NY?

As far-fetched as it may sound, a recent proposal sent to the National Olympic Committee could bring a portion of the 2026 Winter Olympic Games back to Lake Placid for the first time since 1980, while also utilizing New York City.

The 2026 Winter Games in Milano-Cortina, Italy, is still a few years away, but already, organizers have run into a bit of snafu.

How Could It Happen?

According to the Adirondack Daily Enterprise, back in October, Italian organizers said they would not be able to hold Olympic sliding events for luge, bobsled, and skeleton at the 2026 Winter Games.

And that's where Lake Placid, who also hosted the games in 1932, comes into play.

According to the report, it would be "too costly to rebuild the Eugenio Monti track in Cortina d’Ampezzo, which was used for the 1956 Olympics and shut down 15 years ago."

As a result, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) officials started looking for an alternative outside Italy.

New York Submits Bid to The IOC

Could Lake Placid pull it off?  Officials from New York think they can, and on December 1st, the USOPC submitted New York state’s bid for Lake Placid to host the sliding competitions for the 2026 Olympic Winter Games at Milano-Cortina, Italy.

Lake Placid offers a state-of-the-art track that is used for World Cup events, updated facilities at Mount Van Hoevenberg, world-class training facilities, and according to the source, about "3,000 rooms in privately owned hotels and rental properties, and surrounding towns and cities have an additional 6,000 rooms."

NYC Could Get In on the Action, Too

Lake Placid isn't acting alone.  New York City would also be a major component of the proposed plan.  According to the report, NYC was listed on the proposal as a "place for transportation and a celebration center at Rockefeller Center."

After the medal ceremonies for luge, bobsled, and skeleton, the athletes would take a proposed non-stop 7-hour flight back to Italy for the closing ceremony, according to the source.

Olympic Officials from Italy said they would review New York's proposal "within the next few days and unravel all the knots".